Category Archives: Models

This is what we’re all about. We scour the web for the best custom LEGO models to share with you. From castles and spaceships to planes, trains, and automobiles, you’ll find the best LEGO creations from builders all over the world right here on The Brothers Brick.

Brick-built seahorse has legs where you wouldn’t expect them

Part horse, part fish, part dragon, part saxophone — the seahorse is one of the weirdest-looking creatures you’ll find under the water. However this aquatic oddity’s peculiar appearance hasn’t put Brother Steven off creating a LEGO version, and the result is lovely. The orange works well, with restrained use of pearl gold and some exposed studs adding some welcome texture and scale-like details, and the spines along the back are excellent. The sandy base is nicely done — adding a coral reef context without distracting from the central model, but the overall shaping is the main attraction here. Don’t miss the use of minifigure legs to create the final curl of the seahorse’s tail — an inspired parts use.

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For a weary traveler, any port is a good port

Mos Eisley and Mos Espa may have the big name recognition in the Star Wars universe as the leaders of backwater ports, and recently Niima Outpost has been an up-and-comer. But there are myriad other tiny trading posts and starports throughout the universe, and LEGO builder Sam Malmberg takes us to one such unnamed frontier town with this dusty scene. The Imperials have a strong presence here, but there’s plenty of hustle and bustle with traders and merchants plying their wares.

Sam’s approach to the dry ground looks especially great, with scattered studs giving the impression of hard-packed but slightly disturbed dirt. The building facades around the back edges also give these scene a lot of depth, making it feel even larger than it is.

Stately castle lodgings for a weary traveler

I’m a sucker for the stories behind builds. I’m also one for nicely cut lines and color choice in architecture. This build by Brother Steven displays all of those traits. Although we’ve seen it done before, the journal of an adventurer chronicled in LEGO is a fascinating concept, and done well by Steven. This particular creation is part of a series of builds, all following “Zenas Abbington” as the hero. There are so many lovely aspects to the castle: the round base, the shape of the towers, the pearl gold carriage wheel in the windows, and the accents on the front door. Let’s not forget how adorable those sheep are too!

And the flip-side is just as pretty! That tree is magnificent, with its color and angled branches. I’m also a big fan of the underside of those mushrooms! It’s no wonder that this, coupled with a few other creations, won a “Brickee” at BrickFair Alabama 2019!

Some of the details of this build are reminiscent of other creations from Steven’s magical world, such as this floating castle we featured last year.

Life-sized Thanos Infinity Gauntlet will make half your LEGO collection disappear

While the LEGO company works to find sustainable ways to produce their plastic products in a world with limited resources, Brickatecture knew there was only one way to save the world of LEGO — or at least, he was the only one with the will to act. He has gone to extreme measures and spent three months over the last year building a marvelous weapon. Judging by the Infinity Gauntlet’s size, it gives him the power to make at least half of his own LEGO collection disappear. Now it is perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

The build is quite accurate to the famous weapon from Avengers: Infinity War, as well as an amazing creation on its own. The shaping is very clean and bold using large polygons to construct the complex non-rectangular shapes while keeping it wearable, and the smaller curves of the palm and fingers are done using curved slopes at different angles.

And if you’re still not awed by its might, take note that Thanos’ glove weighs 4.2 lbs and contains more than 2,000 pieces. And it cost him… everything.

It’s time to play the music with this amazing animatronic LEGO Muppet Show [Video]

One glance at this amazing LEGO Muppet creation by Andreas Keinbart and I can already hear Beaker frantically meep-meep-meeping. Based on the recurring Veterinarian’s Hospital setting from The Muppet Show, the huge multi-level motorized diorama features many of the beloved Muppet characters in brick form. Up top in the lab are Dr. Bunsen and Beaker, with Sweetums coyly hiding in the back.

Incredibly, many of the characters are animated with LEGO gears and motors. Beaker’s mouth, of course, opens and closes, and Sweetums peaks in then goes back into hiding.

Down below in the operating room are Dr. Bob (aka Rowlf), Nurse Piggy, and Nurse Janice, along with their patients, a rabbit, a chicken, and Baskerville the Hound. Continue reading →

World War 1 German Fokker D.VII

World War I vehicles are a source of inspiration for lots of LEGO builders. Maybe it’s the challenge of the many unique shapes these vehicles use. Whatever the reason, this model of the German Fokker D.VII by Wesley does a top-notch job of capturing the look of this fighter plane, from the cross built into the tailfin to the engine with wooden propeller, to the wheel structure. Even the camouflage pattern under the wings (while not official LEGO) is quite a nice detail.

Explosive charge detected – LEGO Star Wars Battlefront 2 vignette

When the sci-fi shooter Star Wars Battlefront 2 launched in the fall of 2017, fans around the world were finally allowed to live out life-long fantasies of fighting pivotal battles from all eras of the galaxy far, far away. One of these classic locales was Yavin 4, the site of ancient Massassi temple ruins used by the Rebels during the Galactic Civil War. In this scene by First Order Lego the heavily overgrown ruins are captured in amazing detail.

The scene depicts the Empire’s attempt to sabotage the Rebel’s defensive turbolasers, while defenders attempt to disarm the explosives. The model features some fantastic vegetation and the crumbling walls make great use of a variety of earth tones to give the structure a weathered look.

This close-up shows a clever use of Technic part as paving stones.

More than your average LEGO City garbage truck [Video]

What’s a city layout without the staple vehicles: police, fire, ambulance, bus, delivery, mail, garbage? You gotta have them all! LEGO has released a few generic garbage/recycling trucks, but none of them are this cool. At first glance this build by Scott Hasse looks a bit like an average set. But up close it’s pretty nifty. Rather than the typical manual dump action displayed in the City line, you get a truck that works much more like the ones you see on the street in real life.

A simple turn of the knobs not only grabs and dumps the bins, but also compacts the refuse into the dump collection in the back. The whole thing is really smooth and works like a charm! An if you had a fleet, you could put tiles on the sides to indicate garbage vs. recycling or compost. Would anyone else besides me get hours of entertainment from playing with this thing? My next step would be to motorize it!

This could become a real set one day, you never know. But in the meantime, you can use some simple instructions to build your own little garbage truck.

A new “swim” on LEGO Creator set 31088 Deep Sea Creatures [Video]

Inspired. That’s all I can say about how I feel every time I see one of Jason Allemann‘s new creations. And maybe a little jealous at how talented he is. Recently, we wrote and article about his update to the LEGO Forma mechanics with a custom shark. This time he has taken a recently released official set, LEGO Creator 31088 Deep Sea Creatures, and brought it to life. It’s done so well that you would think the set was always intended for this purpose.

With the turn of the crank or an attached motor, the drive mechanism of this build gives the shark an appearance of organically gliding through water. The most impressive part (as always with Jason’s builds) is how smooth and seamless the motions are. Truly fluid! And as a bonus, this creation isn’t just for admiring from afar! He has kindly shared these (and many other) instructions on his website so that others can build it too!

31088 Deep Sea Creatures is actually on sale at Amazon right now, along with LEGO Ideas 21315 Pop-Up Book, the official set that both Jason and Grant Davis collaborated to design!

WWBFD: What would Boba Fett drive?

As you sit there musing on your vast Star Wars knowledge, do you ever ask yourself WWBFD? That is, what would Boba Fett drive? Well, according to LEGO builder brickcitywhips, the answer is a Ferrari F40. And I have to say, they make a compelling argument with this wicked overhaul of the official LEGO Ferrari F40 Creator Expert set. Sure, it’s just a color swap (which is actually not even close to easy), but it’s also super sweet and absolutely makes me want to build some character-inspired vehicles of my own. Maybe an R2-D2 Volkswagen Camper Van?

Enormous Zorin from Walking War Robots in LEGO form stands nearly as tall as a person

If you have stayed up to date with The Brothers Brick the past few days, you may have noticed we have featured quite a lot of mecha recently. But if you thought you’d seen it all, I have news for you, because what we have here is the largest dose of mecha you have probably ever gotten in one go. Taking inspiration from the videogame Walking War Robots, iomedes! creates the most iconic mech available in the game in LEGO at a mind-boggling scale, standing nearly five feet tall at the tips of its guns.

All the conventional techniques and rules of mecha building go out the window at a scale like this. Joints which would mostly be a few pieces allowing for articulation and covered by a panel or two simply would not cut it in this creation and are rather replaced with complex brick-built domes and arches. Continue reading →

A collection of New Zealand’s most famous birds

New Zealand has some of the most interesting fauna in the world, with many of their animals not found anywhere else in the world. While on holiday there, Patrick B. was so enamored by the birds that he decided to recreate them in LEGO. The results are lovely! This collection showcases the Kea, Pukeko, Kakapo, and the iconic Kiwi. I have to say, that last one is pretty adorable in LEGO form. Here in Seattle where I live, we have a pair of gorgeous Keas at Woodland Park Zoo. These endangered mountainous creatures are quite intelligent and always busy. They’re one of my favorite birds, and nicely done here.

Back in 2013, Thomas Poulsom also did a couple of these New Zealand birds (and a badger). And a bit more recently, we’ve featured an article about another LEGO build of the critically endangered Kakapo. It’s a parrot unlike any other in the world! Check it out, and then learn more about what you can do to help them.